Tepalcates — Restaurant in Lake View Township

This place is a hidden gem with excellent food and excellent service! Like all of the best Mexican restaurants in Chicago, it is very unassuming on the outside - with traffic roaring past on Belmont and Western.

The owner was super friendly and super proud of his food. He offered me samples of the agua fresca and horchata which were all excellent and tasted very fresh, but the real star here is the food!

I ordered lunchtime take out and got the Torta de Conchita Pibil, which was just excellent. The torta was lightly fluffy on the inside and slightly crunchy on the outside and the fillings were all perfectly balanced and arranged so you got a little bit of everything in one bite. It was flavorful in every way you want a torta to be. The owner made sure I understood what the salsa was for and said "we don't make anything spicy here" and suggested I take one or two salsas. The salsa was also (unsurprisingly) incredible.

I can't wait to go back here and try more of their food! The prices are lower here than most other Mexican places frequent and the food is far superior. I wish them many successes in the future and will be recommending this place to everyone I know- This place has 5 stars...

Stopped in for our first visit yesterday and left VERY happy. As soon as we walked in, we were immediately greeted by each and every employee. The man working the register was very kind and volunteered his time to walk us through some of his favorite items on the menu plus shared with us a few free samples of their homemade horchata and juices. I typically HATE horchata but I have to admit, this one was delicious. I ended up taking home a glass of their homemade lemonade and mixed it with a bit of tequila and it was perfection. While we waited for our take out order, the same gentleman was kind enough to provide us with some complimentary chips & salsa. They have four different types - all delicious but my favorite was their verde. Their homemade chips are fantastic - right amount of firmness for dipping into their fresh guacamole. My husband had one asada taco and one suadero; stated that both were perfect. I had a chorizo and a cesina taco - they too were perfect. So grateful to have them in the neighborhood and looking forward to...

I really wanted to like Tepalcates — the food is decent, but the service is consistently disappointing. On today’s visit, I walked in ready to place an order, only to be ignored while the owner spent several minutes handing out samples of all four Agua Fresca flavors to a table of guests who had already finished dining. Despite repeatedly telling me he’d “be right with me,” he made no effort to take my order. Then, a couple walked in, and suddenly he had time — saying once again he’d “be right with me” but clearly prioritizing them. That was enough for me to walk out.

Still, I gave them another chance and tried calling in an order instead. This time, I was told there’s a minimum taco order — something I’ve never been told before, even though I’ve placed the same order by phone in the past. At this point, I’m done. Tepalcates has officially lost my business. It’s disappointing when a place with potential lets biased service and inconsistency drive customers away. Head to Tony’s down the street for better food and the...